Lament of Yazid's Gathering

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Lament of Yazīd's Gathering (Persian: روضه مجلس یزید) is a lamentation in the mourning ceremonies of Imam al-Husayn (a). The lament is recited after the anniversary of the Day of 'Ashura, and usually in the second ten days of Muharram. It is a narration of stories happened in Yazid b. Mu'awiya's gathering in which the Captives of Karbala were present.

The Historical Account

When the Captives of Karbala arrived in Syria, Yazid ordered the decoration of the city. Suhayl b. Sa'd al-Sa'idi reported the decoration of the city and people's delight upon the arrival of Ahl al-Bayt (a) as captives.[1]

According to historical accounts, the heads of the Martyrs of Karbala arrived in Syria on Safar 1.[2] On this day, the Captives of Karbala were taken to the city through Bab Tuma (Gate of Thomas) or Bab al-Sa'at (Gate of the Clocks) and were detained at the entrance of the Great Mosque on a stance in which captives were usually detained.[3]

When the agents of Yazid moved the captives around Syria, they went to Yazid's palace. As a representative of other agents, Zahr b. Qays briefed Yazid on the Battle of Karbala.[4] After hearing the report, Yazid ordered the decoration of the palace. He summoned the prominent figures of Syria and ordered that the captives be taken to the palace.[5] The captives entered the palace while they were tied together with a rope.[6] At this time, Fatima bt. al-Husayn (a) said: " Yazid! Is it right for the daughters of the Prophet (s) to be kept captive?" The audience and the household of Yazid cried after hearing her words.[7]

In the presence of the captives, Yazid put the head of Imam al-Husayn (a) inside a golden container[8] and hit it with a wooden stick.[9] When Sukayna (a) and Fatima (a) saw this, they cried too loudly that Yazid's wives and Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan's daughters began to cry as well.[10] According to a hadith from Imam al-Rida (a), Yazid put the Imam's (a) head in a washing basin and put his food table on the basin, and then began to eat food and drink beer together with his companions. He then put the chess table on the basin and began to play chess with his companions. When he won a game, he had a sip of the glass of beer and threw the remaining on the floor beside the basin in which Imam al-Husayn's (a) head was put.[11]

Some of the audience objected to Yazid, including Yahya b. al-Hakam, the brother of Marwan b. al-Hakam who was hit in the chest by Yazid.[12] Abu Barza al-Aslami also protested to Yazid, but he was ousted from the gathering at the command of Yazid.[13]

In Syria, Imam al-Sajjad (a) and Zaynab (a) delivered speeches to inform people about the truth. The speeches are known as Imam al-Sajjad's (a) Sermon in Syria and Zaynab's (a) Sermon in Syria.

The Content

In the lament (rawda) of Yazid's gathering, the events of the gathering are recited. The Rawdakhwan reminds the audience of Yazid's offensive treatment of the head of Imam al-Husayn (a) by hitting it with a bamboo and the protests of some people in the gathering to Yazid. The story of Hinda, the wife of Yazid, is sometimes recited in this lamentation. The lament also involves a recount of Imam al-Sajjad's (a) sermon and a digression to the lament of the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a).

Notes

  1. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 230.
  2. Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī, Āthār al-bāqīya, p. 331.
  3. Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 5, p. 129-130.
  4. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 5, p. 460.
  5. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 5, p. 461.
  6. Ibn Ṭāwūs, al-Luhūf, p. 213.
  7. Ibn Namā al-Ḥillī, Muthīr al-aḥzān, p. 99.
  8. Khwārizmī, Maqtal al-Ḥusayn, vol. 2, p. 64.
  9. Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 64.
  10. Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 2, p. 577.
  11. Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 25.
  12. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 5, p. 465.
  13. Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 3, p. 416.

References

  • Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī. Al-Āthār al-bāqīya. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, [n.d].
  • Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Edited by Suhayl Zakār & Rīyāḍ al-Ziriklī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
  • Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī, Aḥmad. Al-Futūḥ. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1411 AH.
  • Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut: Dār al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1405 AH.
  • Ibn Namā al-Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad. Muthīr al-aḥzān. Third edition. Qom: Madrisat al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1406 AH.
  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Al-Luhūf. Edited by Fāris Tabrīzīyān. Qom: Dār al-Uswa, 1414 AH.
  • Khwārizmī, Muwaffāq b. Aḥmad al-. Maqtal al-Ḥusayn. Edited by Muḥammad al-Samāwī. Najaf: Maṭbaʿa al-Zahrāʾ, 1367 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Qom: Muʾassiat al-Biʿtha, 1417 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1404 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abū l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Beirut: Rawāʾiʿ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
  • Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, [n.d].